I have had a car since I was 16 years old, and I loved driving it. When I moved to Bozeman for college my freshman year, I felt like my life was missing something without my car, and before my first semester ended I had a car again.
But as life goes on, I realize that it is much better without a car.
In Bozeman I try to only drive when absolutely necessary. I bike as much as I can, and because Bozeman is pretty small, even my friends who lived "far away" from me last year were less than a 20 minute bike away. I always took the bus to Big Sky and only drove the 10 blocks from my house to the bus stop last year because I didn't want to haul all of my snowboarding gear that far in the snow.
Now that I have lived in Buenos Aires almost 5 months without a car, I have decided I do not miss it at all. The public transportation here is very efficient, easy to use once you get used to it, and much more relaxing than driving yourself (people drive crazily here! Not to mention the immense amount of traffic in a big city like this).
Another thing I have gotten very used to is walking long distances. I have mentioned previously that just wandering around the city is a good way to get to know it but can get tedious, but if I have a legitimate destination I don't mind walking an hour to get there. In fact, an hour is nothing in the scheme of things, it's a good time to listen to some music and reflect on life, do some people watching and city observing, and get a little bit of exercise while you're at it.
Because I usually bike everywhere in Bozeman, I never took the time to walk places, because biking is far more efficient. But, when I get back I'm going to start walking more if I have time.
In the past week I have started going to a climbing gym every day that is located about an hour walk from my house. It's open until 10:00 pm, and the past few nights I have stayed basically until it closes and then walked home. When I first got here, I was afraid to go outside when it was dark out, but in reality Buenos Aires is a very safe city—don't believe the urban myths! Walking home at 10:30 pm I see tons of people outside. Especially now that it's summer and warm even late at night, there are pedestrians of every variety, people going running, people hanging out in public spaces, and people sitting outside eating dinner at restaurants with outdoor seating (dinner time is late here!). It's very safe, especially if you stick to the main roads. After climbing, it's a good way to wind down and relax while bumping some good music.
The majority of people who live in Buenos Aires don't have cars. For them, as for me, time in transport is time to relax. It's nice to sit on a bus and not have to worry about driving, and it's nice to take the time to walk and see what you're passing instead of speeding by as quickly as possible. Life without a car is simple. Live simply.
No comments:
Post a Comment